"It fills a void... it's emotionally working things out"
053: Mark Marshall
Good morning! This is Play It Like It’s Music. I’m Trevor, thanks for listening.
On Wednesday, August 26th of 2020 Music is not content! It’s connection.
A quick note: last week’s episode may not have reached you since there was a big traffic burst here on Substack and the whole thing got gummed up for a day, which happened to be the same day I was sending you my regular Wednesday edition. In case you did not get the email, you can still look at the post and listen to the episode, it’s right up on the site where it should be. And the podcast is also in your player’s feed like normal. I put together a great chat with Daniel Wright, and it’s really worth hearing.
[photo by Abby Ahmad]
I’m in California here with the rolling brownouts and the heat storm, it’s been in the low 100’s here for a week straight. Hard at work on multiple projects as usual, but I think I’m settling into a good groove here. It’s a trip to hold myself to account with everything I start, but I’m getting better at completing the things I start. And it’s partly because I’m really liking some of the stuff I come up with.
There’s this thing I’ve been alluding to here and there called the Lazy Cello Suite, which isn’t an entirely original work but I think it’s safe to call it a remix. I basically took the chord changes of the Bach G Major cello suite and made my own notes, played in the way I like to play. It’s lazy-sounding in a good way, a way that doesn’t make you work too hard as a listener. I’m going to make a recording of it soon on my porch and put that out on Bandcamp.
I’m also working on some production prototypes for an album which is moving forward. I’m working with last week’s guest, Daniel Wright. It’s still in a very early stage but the energetic read is good on the thing, so stay tuned for more on both of those projects as they develop.
Today I’m happy to share my conversation with Mark Marshall.
He’s a great guitarist, and very much a connoisseur of guitar tone. In fact, he has an entire website dedicated to the Anatomy of Guitar Tone, which you can find at anatomyofguitartone.com.
But he’s much more than a mere gearhead. I’ve worked with him as a producer and in bands, I’ve also admired his work on stage for many years. He’s got that certain presence, one of total focus where you can just tell he’s taking exquisite care with his sounds, and we the listeners benefit tremendously.
He’s not just a local cat. He’s logged tens of thousands of miles on the road with the likes of Amy Helm and Sister Sparrow. He collaborates with his wife Abby Ahmad in a great rock/blues band called Fife & Drom, and he’s got his own power guitar trio with Adam Minkoff and Tony Leone called Future Relics.
We hear about what it was like growing up in rural Pennsylvania near Scranton / Wilkes-Barre. Mark had to take a long journey through darkness into the light, navigating issues with an overbearing collaborator who also happened to be his father. The man had to move mountains to get to where he is today, and just before the Pandemic hit he was hitting the gas on his composition work, so we’ll get a taste of that as well.
Once again, if you like the show and you think it deserves a wider audience, do us a solid and share the link with a friend:
Or better yet: listen to the Playlist we just started with all the guests and pass that around too. It’s a musical community you can take with you wherever you go: Find it on Apple Music | Spotify
We are here to connect the dots with you.
Now let’s dive into my conversation with Mark Marshall:
Press PLAY above to hear my convo with guitarist Mark Marshall.
Artist’s tracks all come from our guest, check out his bands Fife and Drom and Future Relics on Bandcamp
Thanks for listening to Play It Like It’s Music. Thanks so much to guitarist Mark Marshall for spending some very generous time with us. You can find him at Anatomy Of Guitar Tone dot com and follow him on IG @guitarist_mark_marshall.
I can’t believe we’ve gotten to 53 shows! If you believe this show deserves a wider audience, please tell a friend:
Follow me on twitter @trevorexter and talk to me on there if you have thoughts about the show.
We're all contending with a mutating professional landscape, jacked revenue streams, a catastrophic global pandemic and plenty of other noise out in the culture.
But you gotta keep playing.
We don't draw any lines here between scenes or styles.
As always, thank you for listening and remember to play it like its music.
You can check out my music on bandcamp and other places. It’s all at my website, trevorexter.com. Sign the mailing list on substack to get this show sent right to you the very moment it comes out. Consider hiring me to score your piece, do some cello, teach you lessons, produce your show or back you up onstage.
Music is a beautiful thing and it makes the world go round.
Big love to your ears.
Trevor
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